How Long Does Alcohol Stay in Your System Urine

Use our new BAC calculator to determine how long does alcohol stay in your system urine. It depends on 4 primary factors. It is primarily based on the amount of alcohol consumed, body weight, gender and total time elapsed since drinking began. In the human body, alcohol is metabolized at a rate between .012% – .015% of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) per hour. A standard drink is considered one 12 oz. beer, one 5 oz. glass of wine or one 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. If someone was over the legal limit with a BAC of .09%, it would take approximately 2 hours for an average person, to metabolize the alcohol in them.

An EtG Test Can Detect Alcohol Longer

An Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) type of urine test can detect alcohol consumption between 80 to 90 Hours after stopping drinking. An EtG type of test detects the presence of ethyl glucuronide in the urine. EtG is a direct metabolite in alcohol. Its presence in urine may be used to detect alcohol consumption in the past 80 to 90 hours. With an EtG a positive urine tests are still possible 3 to 4 days even after moderate drinking.

Helping Get Alcohol Out of Your System Fast

Alcohol does show up on most drug tests. There is no “magic bullet” or over the counter products for cleansing our system of alcohol. These are some things to try that may accelerate the process:

Drink plenty of pure water, juice & other fluids

Take a vitamin B supplement

Eat healthy food

Exercise

Blood Alcohol Concentration – BAC

When about five percent of absorbed alcohol reaches the kidneys, the body begins actively excreting alcohol through urination. Additionally, alcohol inhibits production of vasopressin, a hormone that helps conserve body fluids. Without vasopressin to prevent fluid loss, urination increases and the body usually begins excreting alcohol within 20 to 25 minutes of being consumed. However, determining how long alcohol remains detectable in your urine really depends on how much you drink.

Typically, the liver processes roughly one ounce of alcohol per hour. If you drink more than one ounce within one hour, your blood will contain excess alcohol that the liver is not able to metabolize. This unprocessed alcohol represents what law enforcement calls your “BAC”, or blood alcohol concentration.

While nearly 90 percent of alcohol consumed is metabolized by the liver, the remaining 10 percent is excreted through respiration, perspiration and urine. Drinking a beer or one mixed drink and then vomiting within a few minutes afterward may stop some alcohol from being absorbed into the blood but waiting longer than 15 or 20 minutes to throw up will do little to nothing to reduce your blood alcohol concentration.

Typically, the liver processes roughly one ounce of alcohol per hour. If you drink more than one ounce within one hour, your blood will contain excess alcohol that the liver is not able to metabolize. This unprocessed alcohol represents what law enforcement calls your “BAC”, or blood alcohol concentration/content. While nearly 90 percent of alcohol consumed is metabolized by the liver, the remaining 10 percent is excreted through respiration, perspiration and urine. Drinking a beer or one mixed drink and then vomiting within a few minutes afterward may stop some alcohol from being absorbed into the blood but waiting longer than 15 or 20 minutes to throw up will do little to nothing to reduce your blood alcohol concentration.

The Science Behind Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG)

Some labs now use a testing method known as “EtG” for discovering how long ago someone metabolized alcohol. “EtG” is an abbreviation for Ethyl Glucuronide. Ethyl Glucuronide is a biomarker that determines whether the body has metabolized any alcohol recently. If a method known as “EtG”, is used to test for the presence of a related chemical, ethyl glucuronide, in the urine, the results can determine if alcohol has been ingested within approximately the past 80 to 90 hours.

The “EtG” Urine Alcohol Test detects ethyl glucuronide in the urine, which confirms alcohol ingestion as long as 3-4 days prior, or about 80 to 90 hours after the liver metabolizes alcohol.The EtG test has become known as the “80 hour test” for detecting any amount of consumed ethyl alcohol recently. EtG has emerged as the test of choice for alcohol and due to the accuracy of this technology and is now routinely available. EtG’s presence in urine may be used to detect recent alcohol consumption, even after ethanol is no longer measurable using other methods. The presence of EtG in urine is a definitive indicator that alcohol was ingested recently.

The 4 Primary Factors in BAC

There are specific factors affecting BAC. Here are the 4 primary issues that will determine BAC.

Gender Type
The reason gender is a key factor is men have a higher percentage (.58) of water weight than women (.49) by almost 10%. That means a woman’s BAC will be higher since BAC is based on converting water into the amount of blood in their body.

Body Weight
How much someone weighs is a primary factor because blood alcohol content (BAC) is a function of “grams of ethanol in 100 milliliters of blood”. So, the more someone weighs the higher volume of blood there is in their body.

How Much Alcohol
The more alcohol someone drinks, the more alcohol your body needs to metabolize. Generally speaking, for most BAC tests, beer is figured as 4.5% – 5% alcohol, wine is figured using a 5 oz glass and hard liquor (shots & mixed drinks) are figured using 1.5 oz. at 80 proof.

Time
The human body starts to metabolize alcohol as soon as the person starts to drink. In theory, if you drank at a rate of approximately .015% BAC per hour, your BAC would stay at zero.

Debunking The Myths

Speeding up metabolism of alcohol by drinking coffee or taking cold showers won’t work. Only time can reduce BAC

Even if you drank 24 hours ago, a breathalyzer test cold show you are legally drunk

Drinking the night before and then “sleeping it off” doesn’t mean you’ll pass a BAC test

Drinking water while drunk won’t make you drunker. In fact, drinking water can help dilute the amount of alcohol saturating body tissues and expedite excretion of alcohol through urine and perspiration.

Alcohol detox is an entirely different process than naturally eliminating alcohol from the body. Alcoholics needing detoxification should enter a medically supervised program due to health complications arising from the body’s strong dependence on alcohol.

Aside from suffering a “hangover”, occasional drinkers will not suffer the serious symptoms of abstaining from alcohol that alcoholics endure. The severity of alcohol detox symptoms also means that long-time alcohol abusers should never try to go “cold turkey” alone. Not only is this dangerous but sudden abstinence will not eliminate alcohol from the body any faster than a professional alcohol detox program.

Breathalyzer

Breathalyzers detect alcohol in the blood within the past 24 hours of drinking

Saliva

An ethyl glucuronide (saliva) test can detect traces of alcohol in the body up to 12 days after drinking

Hair

Hair follicle testing for alcohol is the most precise and can detect alcohol in your system three months after ingesting alcohol. Detecting whether there is any ethanol in someone’s urine can be a very important determination

Calculate How Long Does Alcohol Stay in Your System

This new BAC Calculator will detect how long does alcohol stay in your system. It is a fast, simple method to determine approximately what someone’s BAC might be at the end of a period of drinking. It will also immediately calculate the approximate amount of time it might take for that level of blood alcohol concentration to drop to zero. The “BAC Calculator” is easy to use.

How The Human Body Metabolizes Alcohol

There are many factors which effect the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in someone’s body who has been drinking. BAC is the answer to this equation;total number of grams of ethanol in 100 milliliters of blood. When about five percent of absorbed ethanol reaches the kidneys, the body begins actively excreting alcohol through urination. Additionally, alcohol inhibits production of vasopressin, a hormone that helps conserve body fluids. Without vasopressin to prevent fluid loss, urination increases and the body usually begins excreting alcohol within 20 to 25 minutes of being consumed. However, determining how long alcohol stays in your system really depends on how much you drink over what period of time.

Once alcohol reaches the stomach, hydrogenase starts breaking down alcohol molecules, which facilitates metabolization by the body’s tissue and organs, specifically the liver. In addition, women present even higher blood alcohol levels compared to men just before menstruation since they also have lower percentages of water and higher percentages of alcohol-retaining fat cells.

Absorption rate factors involving gender indicate that a man weighing 140 pounds who consumes two drinks in one hour will have a lower blood alcohol level (BAC) than a 140-pound women who drinks the same amount of alcohol in the same amount of time. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that men possess higher levels of the enzyme hydrogenase. Also, men have a higher amount of water in their bodies than women.

Genetics

Two enzymes control alcohol metabolism: aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Geneticists have discovered that both ALDH and ADH are encoded by various genes in different forms. Which ALDH or ADH allele an individual carries will exert a strong influence on how long alcohol stays in their system as well as their risk for becoming an alcohol abuser.

Food Digestion

When someone eats prior to or while they are drinking alcohol, stomach enzymes will fixate on digesting food instead of processing alcohol. This action delays infiltration of alcohol into the bloodstream, which means their BAC tends to peak between 60 minutes to six hours after consuming their last drink. Alternately, people who drink on an empty stomach will have a peak blood alcohol level within 30 minutes to two hours of taking their last drink. In addition, high-protein foods seem to delay processing of alcohol more than non-protein foods.

Individual Metabolism Relate

Some people have quicker baseline metabolism rates than others, a trait making then better equipped to process and eliminate alcohol. While metabolism is partly influenced by genetics, it is also partly controlled by lifestyle choices, stress levels, sleep and physical activity. Faster metabolisms correlate with people having healthy amounts of body fat and lean mass.

Medication Ingestion

Some prescription and non-prescription medications may inhibit processing of alcohol by interfering with enzymatic activity. Antidepressants, cold/flu medications and sedatives may cause faster absorption of alcohol in the small intestines, expedite higher BACs and lengthen time alcohol remains detectable in the body.

Illness & Disease

Drinking alcohol while suffering an illness and/or disease that dehydrates the body often find alcohol stays in their system longer than when they are not ill. In addition to dehydration leading to reduced enzymatic activity, lack of sufficient water in the body interferes with the ability of the liver to degrade and eliminate alcohol. Taking medications while ill may further lengthen the amount of time alcohol remains detectable in body tissues, blood and urine.
Contrary to belief, drinking excessive amounts of water or other hydrating fluids does not expedite elimination of alcohol from the body. The liver is primarily responsible for metabolizing and eliminating alcohol from the body so that it is not detectable in the blood, urine or tissues.

Legally Speaking

From a legal standpoint, knowing whether or not someone has been drinking alcohol can determine someone’s ability to act in a responsible fashion. It is against the law to operate motor vehicle while under the influence over a certain percentage of alcohol. The amount of alcohol in a person’s body is known as their “blood alcohol concentration” (BAC).

Even a small amount of alcohol, such as a few beers can impair reaction time, coordination and good judgement. The legal BAC limit in all 50 states is 0.08.

241 responses to “How Long Does Alcohol Stay in Your System Urine”

I went to ReHab and they were worried about seizures??? I normally only drink on one or two days a week, no seizures. Now all of a sudden I need special monitoring? I got out of rehab and enjoyed a great drinking festival that day. I still only drink one or two days a week, and wasted about a month at Re-Hab…

Hey I’m 145 lbs make. Fast metabolism, I drank about 5 beers Saturday night, and was completely abstinent for weeks until then. Been peeing alot and drinking water. Will I be okay for a etg about 48 hours later

Sorry for the delay, we would need to know exactly how much alcohol you drank and over what length of time to try and help you determine when the alcohol might be all out of your system. In general, if you didn’t drink too terribly much, you could be ok.

thank you, and yes we forget sometimes how hard it is to not drink. Going it alone makes it even tougher. I often suggest to people they try going to AA meetings for some great and compassionate support.

Is that true for jus regular probation I drank 6 talls of pbr and a few little ones Dec 23 drank lots of water had too pee on the Dec 26 thanks for your information I live in Cincinnati Ohio Hamilton county

Hi
No way for us to know county by county. Most counties run regular testing. It sounds like it would be close to the limit for EtG types of testing. If it is just a regular urine test, you should be ok.

Does the ETG hour count start from your last drink ingested or from when your BAC is at 0? I went on a bender. Last drink was Friday at 5pm and have a test Wednesday at 5pm. If by last drink I will have over 120 hours, if by BAC, I won’t.

I work as fluid recovery associate. I am in consent exposure to gasoline, diesel and other ethanol based products daily. I was on SCRAM and it was turned off while I was at work. Does this exposure read as a positive during urine test?

Well…ETG… seems quite invasive and going to drastic extremes… which does not suprise me as our Country makes a great deal of profit from the sales of alchol….and our country makes a great deal of profit from those whom consume the legal substance… providing we obey the law and correctly preform our jobs i personally think .. if you are at work and your breath shows .02 so what? If you drive and you are .03 so what? I see no reason to dig and pry and try to say someone had a beer 80 hours ago

I am on probation for two years for DWI. I have a breathalyzer on my car which will not allow me to start the engine if alcohol is detected. I believe it is not fair for me to have 0-TOLERANCE as my breathalyzer will prevent an occurrence.

Do yourself the biggest favor in the world. Closely check your state’s laws or shell out $100 for a lawyer to do it. I was in Hawaii on vacation and rear-ended a car. I blew a .04, knowing I wasn’t drunk. HOWEVER — if there is something like a crash or someone gets hit or there’s property damage, your BAC below the legal limit can be deemed the reason or a contributor to the accident and it will be treated as a full-on DUI in the court and the administrative Dept. of Licensing. Also, if one relies on a CDL, it can be pulled if any alcohol is detected in relation to an accident. I learned the hard way, I really hope you don’t have to.

I droped yesterday for dcs i droped exactly at 6:35 pm last use of achol was 52 hrs at that time it is an etg test I drank lots of flueds and pied a lot of times my weight is 137 pounds is their any hope I can be OK someone give me hope plz

I only take small four shot at 11:30pm. I drink of 12 oz water at 1:45am then at 7:45am 12 oz. at 8am 3 bottle water of 12 hours. I will say at least 7 time went to bathroom. probation drug test at 2pm? will I make it pass ?

I will be entering a probation program soon, and baring being forced to quit by the PO, I am a bartender. As such, I will occasionally take a small sample of a beer, wine or cocktail to learn a new flavor profile, or check that it tastes as it should. Since being arrested nearly two months ago I have not drank at all, but I still take these small samples while at work. The sample size is literally less than a thimble, and now I descretely spit it out immediately and rinse my mouth after. I’m trying to build a good habit in this bad situation, but when my probation finally begins, will this level of exposure put me at risk of failing an EtG?

Had 1 airplane shooter of vodka at 1pm , 40% ach. Today 10.22. Have now a pop up text tomorrow at 4:30 pm, I work out side in Florida heat and drink probably a gallon of water. How should this test go?

EtG is the abbreviation for Ethyl Glucuronide, the enzyme the body produces when it metabolizes any alcohol. Non alcoholic beers still has a small amount of alcohol in it, some cold medicine does too. It sounds like there is a possibility your body may have has to metabolize a small amount of alcohol, but you still might be ok…

I had 8 light beers on friday night thet21stlast drink was at midnight i haven’t had any alcohol in3 weeks my test is at 5pm on the 24 its almost 72 hours i been drinking lots of water im in pretty good shape u think i have a chance of passing. If i don’t here back ill give you all my resaults

I had to take a urine screen today for alcohol. I don’t know what type of testing system they use. I noticed a “F” on my paperwork so I asked what it was for. The guy that administered the screening said my urine had to be frozen. Is there any reason why? And what does that do to the urine? I had been drinking 2 days prior to this test

I have been sober for 2 years and just finishing up probation for a DUI that happened 2 years ago. I made a “no bake” cookie recipe that used one teaspoon of almond extract. The extract bottle says it contains 36% alcohol. Will this show on on an eTG urine test?

because they were “no-bake” a very small amount of alcohol was ingested. Since EtG’s are looking for the enzyme the body uses to metabolize alcohol, it is possible your test will come up dirty. Your explanation would be quite valid however.

O’Doul’s is a non-alcoholic beverage, but still contains a small amount of alcohol. If your test is standard, non EtG type test, the results should be negative after 5-6 hours of consuming 4-5 non-alcoholic beers. EtG, however, can detect any alcohol that was metabolized in the past 80-90 hours (3.25 days).

I am a 285 point female, 6″ foot, I have a drug test monday that can also test for alcohol , I’m going out with friends tonight to have about 6 beers , will that show up in my screening monday at 10 am. Today is friday

If they do an “EtG” type of test, it can detect alcohol metabolization 80-90 hours (3.5 days) after stopping drinking. Otherwise, we estimate your BAC could be approximately .1072 after drinking 6 beers in about 4 hours. If that is true, then that amount could require approximately 10 hours for the average body to detox.

With all due respect to all of you so concerned about passing ua’s; has it occured to you to just not drink???
I would suggest that if you are facing any leagal consequence for drinking and you drink anyway – YOU MOST LIKELY HAVE A DRINKING MISUSE DISORDER and should go to AA!
This is much better option than jail!

I get what you’re saying but being an alcoholic myself not drinking sometimes is possible!!! Until you’re an alcoholic or addict yourself you can NEVER understand what we go through or have gone through!!! Until both happened to myself I thought I knew the signs and always said I’d never become either but guess what , I’m now in recovery from prescription pain pill addiction and have been trying to stay sober since October 31, and having to do urine tests I have binged 3 times for 4 days each knowing this could make getting my daughter back take longer. So until you’re the alcoholic don’t go preaching your thoughts on ” why drink when you know you have a test to take”!! Never judge someone who’s shoes you’ve never walked in……

I’m gonna drink 3/4 regular size bottle of white wine tonight (Friday) and probably have a ua Monday at 3pm. I have to take pain meds for chronic back pain and go to dr every 2 months where they do a ua. Do mds have that eg test in their office, or just standard ua testing? Think I’ll be ok? I’m 5’8″, about 165lbs.

That depends, EtG tests are looking for whether someone has metabolized any alcohol within the past 3 – 4 days. So even though a person only consumed a small amount, like you did, it is a possibility that an EtG test could detect it. Otherwise, that small amount would disappear from the body quickly.

Hi EtG can generally detect whether someone has metabolized any alcohol within the past 80-90 hours, about 3 1/2 days. So, in theory you should be ok. If, you drink ANY alcohol, even a small amount between the time you stopped and the test, the 3 1/2 day clock starts over…

Every state is different, and no way for us to know about PA’s policy. In general, EtG can detect whether someone has metabolized any alcohol within the past 80-90 hours, about 3 1/2 days. If it is not EtG, then you should pass.

Hello
Your system will have completely metabolized 1 beer by Thursday. If they administer an EtG type of test, which looks for the enzyme used to metabolize (EtG) you still should be ok as it generally can only go back 80-90 hours.

I stupidly drank around 18 light beers on nov. 26th, stopped around midnight, and weigh 195 lbs. I am to be pee test on the 30th at 1000-noon and I think its an etg but could be wrong. What are my odds? Thanks in advance for any response

in theory you could claim a positive result was caused by mouthwash, of course. A small amount could get into your blood stream and create a “false positive”. Be sure you know which brands contain alcohol as not all of them do.

It is impossible for us to say whether anyone will pass an upcoming drug/alcohol test. We would need to know how many drinks you consumed in what amount of time or else we can’t compute hoe long the alcohol will stay in your system. Please let us know these details, thanks and good luck

Not sure exactly what you’re asking us here. The “rule of thumb” is an EtG can detect whether any alcohol has been metabolized in the past 80-90 hours. So someone would need to make sure they did not consume ANY alcohol 3 to 3 1/2 days before the time of the test.

Hi! I drank about 4 tall stiff drinks of rum that were about 1/2 alcohol and 1/2 soda for 5 days in a row. Every one of those nights my last drink was probably between 8pm-10pm. My last drink was about 10pm Saturday night. There’s a strong possibility I’ll have a urine screen at about 10am Tuesday morning. U think I’ll pass???

There is no way for us to say for sure, if you don’t drink between Thursday at 500 PM and Monday at 500PM that’s approximately 96 hours, which is outside the 80-90 hour window of highest rate of detection.

That is actually a lot more alcohol than it may sound like. Since the body, generally speaking, metabolizes alcohol at a rate of .012% – .015% per hour, there is a risk of coming up “positive” on a UA 16 hours after consuming it. We estimate your BAC at 8PM could be somewhere around .085, which is above the legal limit for driving a motor vehicle.

Im155 lbs male started drinking on the 22nd at 8 pm half bottle of vodka 40% then same on 23rd and 24th and 3-4 shots on 25th stopped at 3pm will I pass a etg test on the 29th at 7pm? Been drinking a lot of water since I stoped

we cannot say anything for sure, it looks like you stopped drinking ~100 hours before your scheduled EtG. Although it appears you consumed a fairly large amount of alcohol, you should have a pretty good chance of passing, but no guarantees.

Hey there I had a question my husband just got put on probation about a month ago and he was told not to drink anything and he hasn’t but he dranked right much before will it show up if they do a hair sample???

We honestly do not know, the alcohol in 1 wine cooler would be metabolized in approximately 6-8 hours. However, if your test is an EtG type, that looks for Ethyl Glucuronide, the enzyme the body uses to metabolize alcohol. It can find Ethyl Glucuronide going back 80-90 hours, 3-4 days. Regular and EtG’s both would require using a cup.

Why would anyone drink that much alcohol knowing they are under any kind of testing situation? In theory, a human being is capable of metabolizing that massive amount of alcohol sufficiently in that period of time. Unfortunately there is no guarantee of passing, of course. Not knowing your gender it is not possible to compute your BAC accurately. Even if you drank all of it in say an 8 hour window, the BAC would be approximately somewhere around .40, 5 times the legal limit for driving, and a good candidate for alcohol poisoning and possible death…

We’re not sure of the right answer. My guess would be a history of regular heavy drinking could possibly put someone on the far end of the 80-90 hour range of the possible exposure to a positive test result.

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Robert M. has been in recovery since 1988. He is a sponsor and loyal member of AA. He has been working in the drug and alcohol field for nearly 20 years. During that time, he has written industry blogs and articles for a variety of industry websites including Transitions, Malibu Horizons, Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches and Lifeskills of Boca Raton.

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